On Saturday my boyfriend and I attended a bunch of panels (separately). On my way down to the first one I ended taking the elevator down with GRRM! So I introduced myself and told him I'm a member of the BwB. He was actually staying on my floor. I told him I go by the name of Sorceress of Neverwords on the board and he asked if he should call me Sorceress. I told him he could call me by my real name but he replied that Sorceress is easier. I told him I'd be at his autograph session later on and then we reached the bottom and went our separate ways. I see why everyone says he is so approachable!

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At 2:00 I attended GRRM's panel called "The strength of sadness: with mourning comes magic" where I ran into Pod, Race, Stego and the BwB. GRRM said a couple of interesting things about killing off his main characters. First, he mentioned killing them early so that his reader knows that his story is very real, and that his heroes are not immortal and can easily slay 150 orcs single-handedly. He said this lets the reader know that no one is safe, and that it helps build up the tension in a novel. Secondly, when asked if he regretted killing anyone off or if he wished he hadn't because he could use them later on, he basically said no.

At 3:00 we went to GRRM's reading where he read a previously-read chapter back when it was supposed to be a part of AFFC. It was a Tyrion chapter; and I'm glad I went because I feared I would be spoiled for ADWD. Hearing this chapter only whetted my appetite for more.

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I talked to GRRM for a bit. My boyfriend wanted to know where he got the name Doran from and GRRM said he either made it up or found in a baby name book. I asked him if Eddard Stark was analogous to Lord Hastings since Robert was similar to Edward IV - and both Eddard and Hastings were suddenly beheaded without any warning. He said if I looked hard enough I could see many similarities to other historical figures - such as Henry VIII in Robert, and Richard III in Tyrion. Then I asked him if the setup for Margaery's arrest was based on what happened to Anne Boleyn who was also betrayed by a singer that was tortured, and then arrested on false information. He basically said that it was. None of his answers were straightforward though.

Anyway, we left the party at 12:30 am since we were by that time pretty tired. Race was disappointed - even though I told him I was old and decrepit and needed my sleep!